The current conventional method for fitting dental crowns, bridges, onlays and inlays, herein referred to generally as restorations, involves the dental practitioner sliding colored carbon paper, of which the thickness is the recommended measured distance between teeth, between the interproximal area of the tooth and the restoration. The carbon paper marks with carbon ink the proximal contact area where the two surfaces of the teeth and/or restoration are too dose, and then the practitioner grinds the restoration with a rotary instrument to remove excess material.
Another method employed is the stand alone use of a metal filing strip coated with some superfine abrasive material. The metal filing strip is inserted into the interproximal area to file down the proximal contact area of the crown for an accurate fit. Since the space between the tooth and the crown, bridge, onlay, and inlay must not be too close or too spaced apart the practitioner must file incrementally. These steps are repeated until the desired distance between the tooth and the restoration is achieved. Because the filing strip is extremely thin, narrow, and malleable, it is necessary for the practitioner to maintain tension in the strip by holding it taunt at opposite ends with fingers from both hands. Unfortunately holding the filing strip in such as manner is cumbersome in the patient's mouth and impedes the practitioner from achieving desired angles and restricts range of motion to effectively file. Especially when the patient is receiving crowns, bridges, onlays, or inlays in the back of the mouth where it is considerably more difficult to access, it is difficult for the practitioner to file since both hands are needed to hold tension in the strip and often a patient's mouth is too small or cannot open wide enough to accommodate the file comfortably. As a result, the patient must endure strenuous stretching of the lips and jaw area. Often a practitioner struggles to find the best placement for fingers to pinch the strip to create sufficient tension while attempting to minimize the restricting presence of both hands in the patient's mouth. This method is inefficient, tiresome for the practitioner, and uncomfortable for the patient. Moreover, because of the difficulty involved handling the filing strip, often patients sustain suffer small cuts due to the sharp edges of the strip coming in contact with gums and lips while filing the tooth or restoration.
Another method employed is that a thin metal strip coated with fine abrasive material is fastened to a removable bow which is attached an extending handle. Generally, the bow and handle are too long to maneuver in the mouth and limit the size of abrasive strip which is actually providing a working surface, such that it is ineffective for posterior teeth. Additionally, it is difficult to grip the device by the protruding handle, and the protruding handle interferes with gripping from the ends. These drawbacks have been addressed by tools manufactured as unitary handles with the filing strip ends embedded within the arms, or by provided improved positive capture methods for the strips, such as by clamping within the arms—through apertures in the strip ends—using snap fittings.
Generally, hand-held filing apparatus are useful, but can rapidly cause fatigue for the user due to difficulties gripping the device. Purely rectilinear arrangements create flat, smooth opposed surfaces which allow for only one orientation of the gripping fingers—i.e. horizontal. Additionally, sharp corners at the joints inhibit diagonal grips. Front-back gripping is possible, but is still less effective than that provided by a shaped surface. Additionally, knurled surfaces, or surfaces with uniform dispersions of small protrusions or indents, are not particularly effective to enhance gripping on such a small device, especially within the wet and slimy environment of a patient's mouth. These limitations may apply regardless whether the tool is of assembled or unitary construction, and regardless whether the strip is held in tension or bowed.
The present invention solves these problems by providing an improved handle disposed along the outer surfaces of a tool handle, which is compatible with unitary or assembled tools, and which is compatible with filing tools which can be used manually or coupled to a dental driver mechanism.